Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. A few companies are leading the way, including Apple with their iPad and iPhone, offering irresistible stores with friendly experts, elegant packaging, and customer service that never ends.

Customer 376

Customer Bandwidth Design Social Media 376

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2023

Businesses see this as the Holy Grail for finally being able to predict who, where, and when customers will buy their existing solutions, and what their future solutions must look like to be attractive. According to published estimates , ninety percent of the data in the world today was captured in the last two years, at roughly 2.5

Customer 288

Customer Social Media Analytics Global 288

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

Most business professionals I know have been conditioned to think of inflation as highly negative, driving up their costs, and reducing customer buying. I see it as an opportunity to find new ways to attract customers , make long-needed changes to improve productivity, and lower your own costs of doing business.

Technical Review 239

Technical Review Revenue Social Media Cost 239

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Early customer feedback will position your solution, and help you make pivots before critical time and money are lost. You don’t have to be a heavily funded later stage startup to get access to “big data,” customer analytics, and metrics dashboards.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. Display ads on mobile devices, including video and audio, also offer a new opportunity to reach target customers. Display advertising. Email marketing.

Lead Generation 365

Lead Generation Customer SEM Marketing 365

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

by Donna Cutting, who is a globally-recognized guru on employee culture and optimizing customer service. In my experience, a healthy team is a prerequisite for a thriving business, innovation to meet market needs, and high customer loyalty. Emotional stability. Spiritual connections. Environmental safety. Intellectual stimulation.

Technical Review 353

Technical Review Cofounder Employee Global 353

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2022

These can be as simple as how to handle customer over-payments, or more complex in how to handle the choices every employee may face between conflicting customer and company interests. This is usually an excuse for not developing ethical policies and practices. Business ethics are best left to philosophers and academics.

Software Review 291

Software Review Offshore Entrepreneur Leadership 291

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2023

Winning entrepreneurs have long since supplemented conventional print and video “push” marketing with digital online interactive “pull” marketing, and a while back added social-local-mobile ( SoLoMo ) to the mix. With social media, you can interact more precisely and create custom products and marketing to be almost all things to all people.

Global 267

Global Marketing Technical Review Mobile 267

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

With information overload due to the Internet, you need to find your customers, rather than assume they will find you. That first burst of customers via word-of-mouth or a viral video won’t sustain your growth. Let me assure you that companies without marketing plans don’t get the attention of either investors or customers.

Intellectual Property 432

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor 432

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Early customer feedback will position your solution, and help you make pivots before critical time and money are lost. You don’t have to be a heavily funded later stage startup to get access to “big data,” customer analytics, and metrics dashboards.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2020

Winning entrepreneurs have long since supplemented conventional print and video “push” marketing with digital online interactive “pull” marketing, and a while back added social-local-mobile ( SoLoMo ) to the mix. With social media, you can interact more precisely and create custom products and marketing to be almost all things to all people.

Mobile 434

Mobile Marketing Technical Review Differentiation 434

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2023

Thus they are blindsided and try to react quickly when a new competitor starts stealing customers. For example, we all remember when Blockbuster realized too late that Netflix was stealing customers by offering videos online rather than via DVDs, but even then they were unable to adapt their processes and their thinking.

Metrics 178

Metrics Technical Review Agile Hiring 178

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 3, 2021

Smart potential customers only visit and buy from credible and memorable websites. No name, picture, address, or business history only convinces customers that you are hiding, located in an un-trustable country, or don’t have a clue. Follow-up for customer satisfaction. They will exit quickly. Show evidence of your expertise.

Internet 294

Internet Web Affiliate Advertising 294

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

Also suggesting that they check out your website or video and tell you what they think will not likely peak their curiosity. If you haven’t yet finalized the business model, cost projections, and customer segments, you aren’t ready for investors. Teasing or spamming an investor is not the way to his pocketbook.

Business Plan 273

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Social Media 273

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

Also suggesting that they check out your website or video and tell you what they think will not likely peak their curiosity. If you haven’t yet finalized the business model, cost projections, and customer segments, you aren’t ready for investors. Teasing or spamming an investor is not the way to his pocketbook.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Angel Investor Business Plan Social Media 310

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2014

The days are gone when a techie or a genius could build things in his garage and customers would find and buy the product, based purely on the “wow factor” of the technology. Thus customers and partners rely more and more on personal engagement with people. New technologies are everywhere today. Make it an enjoyable experience.

Customer 248

Customer Audience Advertising Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

In my experience, the key steps I look for always include the following: Testing the idea against customers who have money to spend. Prepare your marketing story for customers and investors. Start by developing an “elevator pitch,” that you can deliver in thirty seconds to hook a potential customer or investor.

Intellectual Property 235

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Harvest Technical Review 235

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2017

With the advent of the Internet, social media, and instant communication via texting, customer expectations for service, as part of their entire customer experience, have changed. They expect you to be there, to know their history as a customer, and to treat them with priority and respect.

Customer 144

Customer Social Media Public Relations Internet 144

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2019

These can be as simple as how to handle customer over-payments, or more complex in how to handle the choices every employee may face between conflicting customer and company interests. This is usually an excuse for not developing ethical policies and practices. Business ethics are best left to philosophers and academics.

Software Review 192

Software Review Offshore Leadership .Net 192

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

Yet, these days, I am seeing overwhelming evidence that customer buying decisions, especially with consumers, are often based on emotional and psychological factors , including passions from others, your experience, and social relationships. Other startups use technology to provide personalized products to all customers.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2018

Many customers now actively seek out new technologies, rather than wait for many others to try it first. Today, with instant and pervasive Internet communication, you can sell your vision via blogging, crowdfunding, and videos before you spend big money building prototypes and pivoting as you learn.

Marketing 231

Marketing Demand Campaign Differentiation 231

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

No name, picture, address, or business history only convinces customers that you are hiding, located in an un-trustable country, or don’t have a clue. Publish a regular blog, contribute to relevant social networks, and highlight several videos, podcasts, or eBooks of you and your technology. Follow-up for customer satisfaction.

Affiliate 221

Affiliate Advertising Technical Review Social Network 221

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

It’s equally easy to go online and incorporate your new entity, register some intellectual property and have some fun with social media for marketing and interacting with customers. With the unlimited access to “how-to” videos and detailed instructions on the Internet, you shouldn’t need to hire experts for most things.

Equity 349

Equity Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity 349

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2012

Your goal is “ coopetition ” - to find a way to partner with your competitor in such a way that both parties can substantially benefit from the other's resources - without stealing customers or damaging anyone's credibility. In the following quarter, we jointly signed up two new customers who loved our “end to end” integrated solution.

Non-Compete 241

Non-Compete Merger Technical Review Software Review 241

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

It’s tempting to believe that one more new platform will win for crowd funding or video games, like Indiegogo and Wii. Actually, great new customer solutions lead to great platforms, not the other way around. Extrapolating you as the target customer. Never mix up what you like with what your customers will buy.

Intellectual Property 314

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Bankruptcy Viral 314

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

Blogs composed of video clips are called “vlogs.” For businesses, these are now prime sources of business networking, customer service, and client leads. Streaming video. Watching video has now surpassed text searching, with popular sites like YouTube , so you see more video ads – in banners, news lead-ins, and site placements.

Internet 239

Internet SEM Wiki Viral 239

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

For example, I usually hear about an aggressive marketing budget, with a plan to penetrate a few big retail chains, and some videos to catch your attention on YouTube. What I want to hear is an innovative marketing and growth strategy that will set you apart in the minds of investors, as well as customers.

Marketing 425

Marketing Angel Investor China New York 425

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

Traditional marketing says you have to “push” your message out to customers, over and over again, to get you remembered. A more effective approach in today’s Internet and interactive culture is to use “pull” technology to bring customers and clients to your story. Skip the Flash videos. Sprinkle graphics and pictures.

Technical Review 401

Technical Review Customer Flash RSS 401

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2012

Every startup needs to understand that the customer paradigm has dramatically shifted over the past two years with pervasive social networks and smartphones. If your business doesn’t connect with your customers, individually and as a community, demanding customers will not only ignore you, but will actively keep other customers away.

Networking 234

Networking Customer Entrepreneur Social Network 234

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2012

You hear a lot of talk these days about the importance of customer satisfaction, but customer loyalty is the real win. A satisfied customer is necessary, but not sufficient, to be a loyal customer who will come back repeatedly, refer their friends and family to you, and be faithful even when your price is not the lowest.

Customer 261

Customer Startup Social Network Stock 261

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

These are necessary to attract customers, investors, and give you a line of defense with competitors. Test your plan to get feedback from real customers. Use social media or reward target customers to volunteer for a feedback session. I can’t emphasize enough how important a name can be.

Intellectual Property 245

Intellectual Property Social Media Angel Investor Metrics 245

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2011

Your goal is “ coopetition ” - to find a way to partner with your competitor in such a way that both parties can substantially benefit from the other's resources - without stealing customers or damaging anyone's credibility. In the following quarter, we jointly signed up two new customers who loved our “end to end” integrated solution.

Partner 225

Partner Non-Compete Merger Technical Review 225

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

I’m convinced that you can’t stay competitive that way with today’s customers, and today’s employees. It’s time to push decision making down into the organization –insisting that the people closest to the customer and the markets learn and make the decisions. Define customer value as the only path to business value.

Employee 291

Employee Video Global Demand 291

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2010

Blogs composed of video clips are called “vlogs.” They became popular for socializing, but now are prime sources of business networking, customer service, and client leads. Streaming video. Watching video has now surpassed text searching, so you see more video ads – in banners, news lead-ins, and site placements.

Internet 224

Internet SEM Wiki Entrepreneur 224

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2019

Use video and audio, rather than jargon, abbreviations, and computer lingo on your site. I see lots of new software put together on a shoestring as a “proof of concept” – but then gets rolled out to customers “asis” due to lack of time or money to “harden” the product. Don’t take shortcuts on these.

Security 195

Security Technical Review Social Network Software Review 195